Just Another Thursday
by Meitora
Summary: Yummy! Pre-MWPP days... completely spawn from my own slightly warped brain. Its been 6 months since the last update...sorry guys...anyway, on with the show...!
1. In Which We are Introduced (Start off on...

Just Another Thursday

Just Another Thursday

C. Maura Matthews. Minus the "C." bit, it was a lovely, ordinary name, perfectly suitable for a lovely, ordinary girl. Hopefully the reader has realized by now that this was not the case. The author has complete confidence in the wisdom of the reader and has decided to skip the usual blather. You know she is a perfectly capable witch, in this case with a Muggle family, and you therefore know that she was sent to Hogwarts via the normal, owl-toting, strangely amazing, Diagon Alley-venturing way. Knowing the reader to be smart about how things of this nature work, the author has decided to hop straight to the beginning of C. Maura Matthew's story. 

All she wanted was a piece of lemon meringue pie. But the cheerful woman pushing the trolley didn't seem to understand. 

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, but we have all kinds of sweets, darling. Would you like a Chocoroach instead? Or a nice warm goat spleen? They're quite fresh" Maura tried hard not to retch at the sight of the wriggling brown lump in the cellophane wrapping. 

"No, thank you. I'll be fine." Maura was not fine. She was starving. She'd been too nervous to eat a breakfast proper, and had settled for a biscuit at the station. She eyed the thick ham and cheese sandwich occupying the seat across from her. It belonged to a rather sulky fellow, huddling under his mandatory black robes. Maura had yet to try hers on. Her stomach rumbled. The sandwich was just lying there, on top of a brown paper bag. It looked so helpless, vulnerable. She only wanted one bite, just to satisfy the hungry tiger living in her tummy, so he'd quit growling so ferociously. The skulking boy didn't seem to pay even a smidgen of attention to his lovely sandwich. Maura made a split decision. She let her hand dart across the gap in the seats and snatch that glory of ham and cheese. 

"What, trying to nick my lunch off me then?" He was not so inattentive as he seemed, then, and he plucked Maura's wrist out of the air almost in the same fashion as she'd thieved his meal. 

"Uh… I just, you know, was hungry, and your sandwich just sort of…" Maura stammered. 

"Jumped into your hand and cried 'Eeeaaat Meeeee!!!', right?" he queried sarcastically. He waved the wand he held in his other hand and muttered "Edibolus Animatia". The ham sandwich proceeded to squiggle loose from her clutch and the top slice of bread flopped open and shut in a parody of a mouth, squealing "Eeeaaat Meeee!!!! Eeeeeat Meeeeee!!!!" Maura's eyes bulged and resettled back into their respective sockets before she burst out laughing. 

"Rather clever, isn't it? It was how my mother cured me of snitching cookies before dinner. I was so horrified I refused to touch the cookie jar." He grinned and released her wrist. "I'm Keith Weston. First year." Maura smiled.

"C. Maura Matthews. Maura, really. I'm a first year too." Keith raised an eyebrow curiously. 

"What does the 'C' stand for?" 

"Charity." Maura made a face. Her given name was repulsive, old fashioned, and rather well worn, having been passed onto her by a great aunt who died of typhoid fever. While not knowing this, Keith seemed to understand the general gist of the situation, judging by the look of distaste she exuded. 

"Excited?" he asked, without the need to elaborate. 

"Uncontainably" she replied. "Nervous though. Apart from you, I don't know _anyone_ here."

"No worries," Keith replied easily, "we've got each other, right? We're all strangers here, but you and I are actually one up on the rest of them." Keith whispered this to her as though it was some absolutely gigantic secret. Maura grinned again. They _were_ one up. 

The door to the relatively empty train car they occupied slid open. The delicate figure of a raven haired girl slipped through, closing the door softly behind her. She padded towards them and smiled gently. "First years?" she asked. They nodded. "I'm a sixth year. I recognized the nervous look straight away. My name is Liandra. You've probably met my brother Robert." Keith and Maura exchanged a look and shook their heads. "No?" Liandra sounded genuinely surprised, "Well, you will. And you'll know him when you meet−" A red-headed whirlwind burst through the door. "Bobby!" Liandra scolded. "Have you ever entered a room without announcing your presence to the whole world?" She sighed. "My twin brother, Robert McCaffry."

"Twin?" Maura demanded. Bobby's tall, commanding, athletic presence and loud Scottish looks were the antithesis of the petite, dark coloring and fair skin Liandra possessed. Bobby laughed heartily. He did everything heartily.

"Chalk up another unbeliever, Li. Where did you find these squirts?" His sister scowled good-naturedly. 

"Hush, Bobby, they're first years. I seem to remember a certain member of the McCaffry family crying the entire train ride _they_ were so frightened. These are our new friends…" Liandra trailed off. 

"Keith and Maura" Keith supplied. Liandra's face broke into a radiant smile, which was quickly checked when she noted the time on her watch. 

"I have to be over in the next train for a couple minutes. I promised Gladys I'd wake her up when we had fifteen minutes left. Bobby, you be good." With that stern admonition, Liandra slipped away as quietly as she'd arrived. Bobby turned his loud smile to Maura and Keith.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Have you any idea what house you'll be put into?" 

"House?" wondered Maura aloud. Keith suffered no such lack of knowledge.

"I'd be okay with any of them. Maybe not Hufflepuff. I like something with a little action, a little excitement. Gryffindor, or Slytherin, they all sound sort of appealing." Bobby's grin faded a little, and he replied in a soft mutter. 

"Slytherin house isn't the best house to get into right now. That's Liandra's house. I don't know what's going on, but they've been acting, well, _different_, venomous almost." He leaned back and resumed his normal tone. "Venomous like snakes can be, you know." He laughed at his own joke. "Join the Lions" When Bobby said it, it wasn't a command, it was a campaign slogan, with a capital _L_ on Lions. "Gryffindor is the best house, no questions asked."

"Do we get to pick?" asked a rather befuddled Maura. Bobby laughed. 

"There's this hat, and they put it on your head. It pokes around a bit and decides what house you should go to. There's Gryffindor­−like I said, the best, and Slytherin, who are usually pretty cool, if a little cold blooded, like reptiles, you know, and Ravenclaw, who I guess are okay if you're the brainy type. And Hufflepuff. They're all a bunch of yellow bellies. We whack them every year at Quidditch." He snorted at the soft Hufflepuffs. "You play?" he asked Keith, who nodded fervently. 

"Every day!" he exclaimed, "I brought my broom with me….it's a Flyaway. Model seven. I'm saving my allowance for an eight, but by the time I have enough money, I'll probably be able to buy a ten."

"You're lucky" Bobby said, "They were talking last year about not letting us bring our brooms to school because kids are always zipping around. What position do you play?" 

"Excuse me," said Maura, who was quite promptly ignored, as are all females when they try to interrupt sports-minded males. 

"Chaser. But I'm a fair hand at Beater when I have to be." Bobby clapped his shoulder. Hard. Keith winced. 

"_Excuse me_"

"We won't need you as a Beater. Hammond Gordon and I have that area pretty well tied up. But we did lose Freddie to graduation, so we've got a spot for a quick, clever Chaser. Make Gryffindor and you just might be the one."

"EXCUSE ME" Maura bellowed. Keith and Bobby turned to look at the determined brunette with the cross look plastered on her face. "What in the name of all that is good and holy is Quidditch?" Keith and Bobby exchanged a glance. 

"Quidditch," Bobby intoned with a tinge of awe and respect for the word, "is the game to end all games. It's the best sport in any world, Muggle or wizard." 

"Swell," Maura commented, "I like sports. Is it anything like badminton? We played that at the Putney Primary School for Girls. I found it a little dull, but much more exciting than grammar." Keith and Bobby exchanged another glance. 

"Its far more thrilling than badminton, Maura." Keith informed her. "Quidditch is amazingly fast. It's bully to watch, too, you'll have fun at the games." 

"The whole school turns out to watch" Bobby added, "team spirit and all that ballyhoo. Good stuff." Liandra diffused into the room.

"Talking Quidditch, I take it." She sighed. "Boys, Maura, they have to things on their mind, and they both involve testosterone." She giggled, saw that Maura didn't quite get it, and shook her head, "never mind, Maura. We'll talk later when those two little boys aren't around. We'll be arriving at Hogsmeade quite soon, and I suggest you get dressed, Maura." Maura nodded and moved away to put her robes on. Separated from the excitement of meeting three new people, she had the chance to reflect. Keith seemed nice, and funny, and Bobby was….Bobby. But Liandra, while friendly, still seemed incredibly chilled. And that remark Bobby had made put Maura on the edge around his twin. Her stomach growled, and Maura remembered how hungry she was. She'd never gotten a bite of Keith's sandwich. Hopefully there'd be plenty of food at Hogwarts. 

At the noisy station filled with students, it was all Maura to do to keep from getting separated from Keith as Bobby herded them over towards the boats. "Don't worry about your bags," he said, "we'll take care of them for you." He winked back at a similarly burly young man who was already balancing Maura's trunk on one shoulder. "Look after these two," he called to a crook nosed older man with a wiry spray of hair, "they're friends of mine." 

"In that case, I'll be sure to drown them in the lake." The man said in gravelly voice. To Keith and a frightened Maura, he said "into the boats now, good lad, now you lass, right off, and away, then." With a shove of his ancient heeled boot he sent their boat adrift into the middle of a misty and (almost certainly, Maura thought) haunted lake. There were two more children in their boat. The first was a dimpled blonde with clear, pretty blue eyes. She introduced herself as Charlotte Blackwell. "But call me Lottie," she insisted with a merry twinkle in her eyes. The second gave his name as Jonathan Stanford, and instantly won Maura over with his gentle smile and low, soft voice. "My sister is a seventh year," he mentioned, "she's a transfiguration genius, and she'd been hoping and hoping I'd be a wizard. Our parents are Muggles. She was so proud of me when I received the owl she accidentally turned our stove into large Christmas pudding. A rather tasty one, too." He added as an afterthought. Lotty giggled. 

"Well, _my_ parents were quite certain I'd get into Hogwarts. They met here. My father wants me to join Ravenclaw, but my mother is pushing for Hufflepuff." Maura remembered what Bobby had said about Hufflepuffs and wondered if Lotty's mother cared. "My older brother, Roger, right, he's a Ravenclaw. Daddy was bursting with pride when his oldest son joined his house. But Mum got her turn when Phyllis went Hufflepuff. So it's up to the baby of the family to decide which house is best. When Roger and Phyllis come home, they have regular squabbles about the houses. I'm excited to see who will finally win." Lotty was bubbly and gregarious. There was nothing about her cheerful, bouncy personality not to like. Maura felt drawn to the blonde girl.

The boats did not have any obvious method of propulsion or navigation, but skimmed along at a swift pace towards a shimmering tower of light in the distance. Maura could see little flickers of blue light around them on the lake, indicating other boats. Presumably, there were four first years for every boat, so by her tally, there were only about thirty-six other new students, herself and her new friends excluded. Maura had always been good with numbers. Maura, finished her digits and satisfied with herself, looked up and gasped. 

A silver-blue castle that seemed to have been allowed to grow wild, spreading and twisting in a bevy of ways sprouted from the lake shore, its enormous towers budding into the star speckled sky. Luminous and looming, it seemed both welcoming and imposing at the same time. 

"Hogwarts" breathed Lotty gently, her exuberant persona calmed for one moment. It was the last word anyone said for a while. The little boats pulled up along the shore and the gravelly man from before took advantage of the silence to give them directions.

"Come on, out of the boats, in a group then, come on stick together. Right now, follow me, and _no noise_ mind you. Step along!" Subdued, the young charges huddled together and craned their necks to look upwards at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. Maura looked out nervously at the masses of people looking back at her. Standing on the podium with Keith, Lotty, Jonathan, and the rest of the first years in something that vaguely resembled the line they were supposed to be in, Maura caught a glimpse of ruddy Bobby McCaffry. He gave her a double thumbs up and winked while his friend waved. Maura gave a little sigh of relief. At least someone looked happy to see her. 

A heavy-set but rather handsome woman placed a battered hat on a stool in the middle of the podium. It soon became animated, singing a cheerful, offbeat melody.

Everyone applauded nicely, and when the buzz died down, the woman gave the instructions that, when called, they were expected to sit on the stool and try on the hat. She adjusted her silvery spectacles and began reading from her list of names. 

"Barnes, Nicholas" A tall, blonde boy built like a Viking placed the too-large hat on his head, or rather over it, and after a handful of seconds the hat chirped out "Ravenclaw!" A table decorated in blue cheered, crying "first first-year! We got the first first-year!"

"Blackwell, Charlotte" 

"That's me," Lotty whispered. "Wish me luck!" Lotty pulled the brim over her sunny curls and after almost a full minute the hat cried "Gryffindor!" The red-gold table at which Bobby was seated roared as a dazed Lotty wandered off in their direction. Maura thought she saw her mouth the words "_Gryffindor_? Sorry Mum and Da"

"Carboux, June" "Ravenclaw"

"Cully, Alexander" "Hufflepuff"

"Delbarton, Annette" "Slytherin"

"Edwards, Janice" "Hufflepuff"

"Ferret, Martin" "Slytherin"

"Hathaway, Eve" "Gryffindor"

And so the list proceeded, with each name being called, and the house announced to cheers. And then, without hardly any warning at all, the name called was-

"Matthews, C. Maura" Maura stepped out of the dwindling group, her knees quaking. How horrible it would be to pass out in front of the entire school! Maura carefully placed the hat on top of her head. _Hmmm…Maura…no wonder you aren't referred to as Charity._

_What's that supposed to mean? _Maura thought.

Nothing, dear. I just don't think you're headed to Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw might be an option, you have a good head for numbers, but no, you're completely awash in spunk. Best for you to head to 

"Gryffindor!" Maura smiled and whipped the hat off her head and looked over at the cheering table. Bobby was already making a space for her between himself and Lotty. "I knew you had a lion inside you" he laughed, patting her on the back. Several other students scattered themselves among the tables, until the name announced was 

"Stanford, Jonathan" who probably had the hat on his head the longest, with well over two minutes passing before the hat positively belted "Gryffindor". Jonathan beamed at a dark haired Gryffindor girl, whom Maura took to be his sister. 

"Thornton, Blaire", became a Ravenclaw, and then it was finally "Westwood, Keith" who had barely touched the hat to his head when it shouted "Gryffindor!" Finally "Wyatt, James" became a Hufflepuff and suddenly the sorting ceremony was over. Maura found it hard to concentrate on what the Headmaster, a salt and pepper bearded man, was saying to them, her stomach was growling so ferociously. She remembered standing up to sing the tuneless lyrics to the Hogwarts school song, before the Headmaster finally pronounced those magic words, "Chow Time!" 

Suddenly the silver dishes that littered the tables were covered in food. Maura's heart leapt in glee. Food! Between stuffing her mouth with food and sipping from a cider-filled goblet, Maura fielded questions dished up by her new housemates. She tried very hard to remember who was who, but in the end she only ended up with the names of the other first years, whom she'd at least seen up on the podium. Besides her friends from the boat, there were five other new Gryffindors. Eve Hathaway and Gregory King were both spitfire personalities. Eve had a clever, open personality and a foxy smile, and Gregory was charmingly honest. Baxter Johnson was the most solemn of the group, which, combined with his mature proportions made him seem a good deal older than twelve. Nancy Parsons was a smaller, louder, a much more annoying version of Eve. And Ingrid Lang was incredibly shy, introducing herself and hunching farther into her robes. 

Maura ate until she was sure she'd have to buy new robes to adjust for her sudden weight gain, and soon she and the other first years were gathered into a little group, and herded from the main hall by a pretty girl who introduced herself as Colleen Braleigh, and of course the cheerful Bobby McCaffry. It was soon common knowledge that the Head Boy and Girl of Gryffindor House were very, very, very good friends, this fact made obvious by the way Bobby's arm wrapped around Colleen's waist every second it was navigating a stairwell or gesturing to a landmark necessary for survival at Hogwarts. 

Colleen and Bobby finally halted in front of a large portrait of a knight. "Halt" he cried, waving his sword around while his horse munched grass, "Who trespasses on the land of Sir Cadogan, brave and esteemed knight for whom-" Colleen cut off the flow of words with a roll of her eyes and saying clearly "Hollythwaite" The portrait swung open, leading a hole large enough for even Bobby to slide through. 

Once everyone was safely through, Colleen gave a short speech. "Welcome to the Gryffindor common room." She said "this place will be your home for the next seven years. Here you can study, relax, or eat between meals. To get in, you have to give the password to Sir Cadogan, which this week happens to be 'Hollythwaite'. We, meaning Bobby or I, will notify you when we change the password. Do NOT give the password out to someone from another house. That's just stupid. If you have any questions, you can ask Bobby or I, or Professor Jade. He's our head of house. Or really, any of our older students will give you a hand. Just beware of advice given to you by the Damion twins. Jeffrey and Johnson, they're sons of the devil, really. Oh, and Peeves the Poltergeist will try and get you in trouble. Headless Nick is a decent fellow, and so are some of the other house ghosts, but the Bloody Baron, well, watch out for him. He's….not too nice. Any questions?"

"Can we go to bed now?" Someone—Greg, asked. Colleen smiled. 

"Of course, you must all be exhausted. Girls, come with me. Boys, you head off with Bobby." Obligingly they split, grinning away tiredly at each other. All five girls shared the same, large room that was stairs above in the tower. The five beds were perfectly made with hospital-like precision, but the trunks at the foot of the bed made Maura wonder. Who'd known she would be in Gryffindor, and that she'd want her bed next to Lotty and Eve, far away from Nancy? 

The first night was hardly a night. Even though they were bone tired, nothing can prevent girls from staying up late together chatting. It's a female bonding thing. It was very late when the five females finally laid their heads, curly or otherwise, onto their pillows to fall into the well of slumber. 

AN: More to come, more to come…but I've got to write it first. What happens next is stuffed somewhere behind the finals I'm "studying" for. No worries. I just hope you haven't fallen asleep while I get the boring part out of the way. 

Love and a Peanut Butter Sandwich!

Meitora


	2. In Which There is a Fight, and Explosion...

On the sharp autumn wind was carried the scent of burning leaves, a husky, smoky smell that set the edgy tone Hogwarts was enveloped in. Maura closed her eyes and enjoyed one last breath of the wild moors before turning her face away from the flung open window and towards her sleeping roommates. The role of the watcher was one she had often played. She was the last to sleep and the first to wake, a light sleeper and keen observer. These four other girls that slumbered in her chamber where going to become her surrogate sisters and best friends. Maura was determined to at least know them well enough so they could look out for each other on their first day of classes.   
In the quiet retrospective of the early gray dawn, Maura looked back in wonder. She was a bloody witch, and she was going to a bloody school for witches. Not only was it a school, but it was a school that admitted both sexes. Maura had always attended an all-girls school, as had, she learned, all her other roommates. Mixed-gender schools were usually only for the public schools, and even then only in the younger grades. Hogwarts seemed progressive and revolutionary in comparison.   
Lotty stirred. "Mmmm... Maura? Shut the window, would you dear? Its cold." The blonde shivered and wrapped herself tighter in her blankets. Maura checked the clock that rested on the dresser.   
"Actually, Lotty, I think we'd best be up. Breakfast in a half hour." She moved to shake the others gently, repeating the time. Lotty groaned and tossed the pillow on top of her head. "Lotty, come along," Maura pleaded, "no good can come of being late for the first day of classes." Eve Hathaway was the quickest out of bed, rising from it and stretching gracefully. She glided to her trunk and opened it, looking inside.   
"I've always wondered," she mused with a smile, "must we wear our corsets under our robes?" The five girls exchanged silent glances, and even Lotty climbed over the bed to look at the wire and whalebone contraption in Eve's trunk. Eve lifted it out and sat it upright on the bed. Maura tossed open her trunk lid and yanked out her own corset.   
"They are extraordinarily bothersome," she agreed.   
"Yes, but Maura, you don't need a corset. You've got such a bone-thin figure. I , on the other hand..." Lotty trailed off, examining her own voluptuous curves. "I fear I shall be chained in forever."   
Eve tugged on the laces of her own corset. "I'd rather not, but Lotty is right. There must be some reason why our mothers wore these." She sighed. "Lace me up, Lotty."   
  
Maura had brought along her extensive collection of undergarments, including all the petticoat layers, but Lotty had insisted there was no need for them. "I was raised as a witch, Maura, I know you don't have to wear those." Without them, she felt rather exposed, even though the robes decently covered her arms and legs. But, as Lotty reminded her, if she wore all three layers of petticoats, her lower half would be so bloated she wouldn't be able to make it from class to class on time. Maura had to agree. The day before on the train she'd worn her traveling clothes, which were easily adjustable for movement, and she had enjoyed the freedom it had given her.   
Without the excess worriment of aligning petticoats, the morning ritual took half the time it normally did, and so, without too much more fuss, the five Gryffindor girls made it down to the common room. Many of the older students were there, laughing and saying hello to old friends they had not seen the night before. Bobby McCaffry emerged from the boys' tower and grinned a hello to Maura. She smiled back at the older boy weakly. Lotty noticed and giggled as she elbowed Maura. "He's too old for you, if that's what you're thinking, but he is rather charming, if loud." Maura huffed in exasperation and laughed. Keith appeared at her left elbow.   
"Good morning Maura, Lotty, girls" he nodded to the other three, whose names must have slipped his mind. "Ready for breakfast? For classes? For life?"   
"No..." moaned Maura, burying her face in her hands, just as Lotty chirped "Absolutely!" The two looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Yes," Maura amended. "I'm ready. Hello Greg, Baxter, where's Jonathan?" She queried the new arrival. Greg and Keith exchanged a glance.   
"He went on ahead" Greg cleared his throat, giving Maura the impression that Jonathan had abandoned the other three boys. "Let's go to breakfast."  
Maura found the suggestion to be a splendid one.   
  
The Great Hall looked nothing like it had the night before. There were still four separate tables, but the elaborate banners and hangings had vanished. The Great Hall looked about as ordinary as the Great Hall in Hogwarts would ever look. It was almost comforting. Maura had had all the grandeur she could take for awhile. The term's schedule, copied in immaculate handwriting on numerous scrolls, was circulated by Professor Jade, a still rather young man with a hard face and warm eyes. Maura gathered all her books for the day together. Today the young Gryffindors (who were not given much choice in what classes they wished to take) had Transfiguration with a Professor Bramble in the morning, and in the afternoon they were assigned to Charms with their own Professor Jade. Jonathan, who had been found sitting with his tray of breakfast food, seemed to be deeply engrossed the Transfiguration book, From Teacups to Toads; A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration by Wendelin Worth. Maura looked at his uncombed soot-colored hair and smiled. He was rather sweet, like a lost puppy. "Is it a good book?" She asked, attempting to engage him in conversation. Jonathan looked up. His eyes were clear and gray, like a frosty morning.   
"Fascinating. I think I'm going to enjoy transfiguration very much. I heard Professor Bramble is rather tough, however." The volume was soft, the tempo even. Maura beamed, then formed the question in her head.   
"What precisely is transfiguration?" She asked meekly. Jonathan raised an eyebrow.   
"Don't you know? A well-brought up and pretty witch like you does not know what transfiguration is?" Maura frowned. That was a complement. Or was it?   
"My parents are not, you know, magically affiliated." She stammered, trying to decide whether a blush was the appropriate response to his gorgeous eyes piercing hers.   
"They're Muggles." His voice was flat, but still gentle. There was a long silence. "It's hardly your fault. Mine are Muggles as well. We cannot help the accident of our births." No, Maura wanted to say, they're my parents and I love them, Muggle or not. But she couldn't bring herself to contradict him. Luckily he decided to explain transfiguration before Maura burst. "It is the art...or science, if you will, of changing one object to another. It's supposed to be extremely difficult." Maura smiled demurely and stood up, taking her tray to place it on the stack of other dirty dishes. Jonathan was confusing her. In the same breath he commented on her physical appearance and condemned her parents to a place of rejection with his own. When she returned, he had reburied his head in the oversized book, sparing Maura any more painful conversation.   
The relative peace of the Great Hall was suddenly shattered as two trays clattered to the floor. Keith and a taller, bigger boy were glaring at each other. Maura recognized him as a Slytherin, a second year, one who had been staring at their table earlier. The nonverbal language was screaming with adrenaline and anger. "Mudblood," Keith spat on the Slytherin's dropped tray, landing the wad neatly on his fried eggs. "I'll show you Mudblood." The Slytherin sneered, and just as the two began to circle each other, Professor Armstrong, the Potions teacher, grabbed the two by the ear.   
"Not in front of the ladies, gentlemen. We shall settle the dispute in the usual matter. Follow me." He stalked away out of the Great Hall, dragging Keith and his adversary with him. Keith imparted one last fleeting glance at Maura, and unmistakably mouthed "Lotty". To hammer the point home, Lotty tugged on Maura's sleeve and asked the inevitable question.   
"What's going on? Where are they going? What were they fighting over?" Maura sighed at Lotty's quizzical expression.  
"I don't know," she responded, "Keith said something about a muddyblood, and then he mentioned your name." Lotty's eyebrows shot up to the ceiling.   
"He was defending me? That Slytherin called me a Mudblood?" She tittered. "He needn't have bothered. Its completely obvious I'm pure. Not that it matters to me, of course" she added as afterthought. At Maura's bafflement, she explained "Mudblood. Someone whose parents aren't from the wizarding community. Its just slang of course, but some people find it rather offensive." Mudblood, thought Maura, that's practically what Jonathan called me. Maura was curious now. Where had Keith been dragged off to? What was 'the usual matter'? Maura carefully took her leave, making sure she had her books. In reflection, she realized she ought to pick up Keith's, and added his duplicates to the stack in her arms. She exited the Great Hall in the same direction as the professor and soon found herself in a small antechamber leading to the outside. Standing on her toes, she could just see out the window that led to an abandoned, leaf-enshrouded smallish courtyard. And there, in the middle of it, were Keith and the other boy, stripped to their pants and wearing cumbersome gloves, boxing. Maura watched for a good two minutes before the Professor halted them and returned them their robes. Keith and the Slytherin boy shook hands, and then the teacher took the Slytherin boy with him while giving Keith a small jar of ointment. Maura couldn't hear the exchange, but she rather thought it included Keith promising not to start more fights. When the professor was gone, Maura opened the door and slid outside. His back was to her.   
"Hello." She said simply. He turned and grinned.   
"Hallo Maura. Spectacular fight, eh?" His grin was lopsided. It fit his face. Maura frowned at him. His eye was looking a little swollen. Keith looked at the tube labeled Bruise B Gone, which Maura took away.   
"You could have been hurt, Keith. More than just a black eye." Her words were harsh, but she was careful to keep her fingers gentle as they applied the peach colored cream to his puffy eye.   
"Professor Armstrong was there. He wouldn't have let us get out of hand. Haven't you ever seen a fight before?" Maura shook her head. "Most boys schools, you're expected to box out your disagreements."   
"Well, I think it's silly" Maura sniffed, finished with the cream and recapping the tube. Keith looked her in the eye.   
"Silly?" he asked softly. Maura thought back to what Lotty had said.   
"Well, appreciated but wholly unnecessary." Keith grinned and took both their books from her.   
"Its nice to be appreciated. Let's get to class Maura."  
  
Amazingly enough, Keith and Maura managed to be just on time for Transfiguration. The rest of the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws, with whom they shared the course, were already present. Professor Bramble turned a steely eye towards them as they took the last two seats in the back, but said nothing. "I am Professor Bramble" she said in a controlled voice. "I am the head of Slytherin house and the only Transfiguration professor at this school. Transfiguration is the study of the metamorphosis of one object to another. As first years, you will learn the basic elements of transfiguration and for the final exam you shall be able to perform a number of these yourselves. Today we turn our attention to the simplest of the alchemist's elements. Can anyone tell me the four elements I am referring to?" Maura and Keith exchanged a glance that clearly spoke volumes of ignorance. Jonathan, apparently, did not suffer the same. "Yes, Mr. Stanford." Jonathan stood.   
"Earth, fire, water, and air." He intoned quietly.   
"Precisely. Five points to Gryffindor. Earth, fire, water and air were believed to comprise everything the world was created of. A plant, for example, was believed to be a blend of earth and water. While we know today these primitive assumptions to be false, they still provide us with our classification of transfiguration." She picked up a piece of chalk, and began scrawling a diagram on the board. Maura frantically copied it onto a parchment. "Earth and air are the stable elements, and fire and water are unstable. Can anyone tell me why? Mr. Stanford, yes."   
"Earth is immovable under your feet, and air is similarly always present. Fire can appear or disappear according to the conditions, as will water."   
"Thank you Mr. Stanford. Five points. Thus we come to the Laws of Transfiguration. There are three basic types. Homologous, as in a water object to another water object, Quasihomologous, as in a stable object to another stable object, or Heterologous, a stable object to an unstable object. While these three types have no actual bearing or influence on the actual transfiguration, we still adhere to these archaic types. This is the Aristotilian Classification System..."   
  
After class, Maura felt the urge to run and check the bathroom to see if her head had exploded yet. She complained of this to Jonathan, who laughed. "If you'd read the first chapter in your book, you'd have known that already."   
"But what about all that homework we've been assigned?" Maura demanded, indignant. "The fifteen inches on why Aristotle was incorrect in his assumptions?"   
"No worries, Maura dear. Page twenty-four has all the information you'll need. Don't fret your pretty self into a fluster. I'll lend you a hand if you need it." Maura was again puzzled. It was a compliment, buried in an insult. She stopped walking and let him carry on. Keith and Lotty came up from behind her, laughing.   
"Hullo, Maura!" Keith grinned, "ready for Charms?"   
"My mother's favorite class was charms," Lotty remembered, "maybe I'll take after her. I need one good class. Did you find that last lesson as incomprehensible as I did?" Maura nodded.   
"I'm glad I'm not the only one," she muttered, staring off at Jonathan. Keith observed the look on her face and then laughed.   
"What am I, Toad-in-a-Hole? You knew I was completely baffled about all that fire-air nonsense." Maura frowned, but didn't meet his eyes.   
"It's just that Jonathan, he acted like..." she watched him turn the corner, "never mind." Lotty and Keith exchanged a glance, and, in perfect agreement, they split. Keith dropped back to speak with Greg, and Lotty shortened her stride to catch up with Maura.   
"Maura, dear," she began, but a sudden explosion turned the hallway into chaos.   
  
Maura opened her eyes. The walls were spinning, she briefly saw Keith and Lotty hovering over her. She tried to take in a deep breath but her lungs felt congested. She vaguely thought she heard someone talking before she closed her eyes and surrendered to the enveloping darkness once more.   
  
Maura opened her eyes, and there was Jonathan. "Gah!" she exclaimed, startled. His face quickly disappeared from view and was replaced by Keith and Lotty's. "Maura, are you all right?" Lotty asked. Maura blinked and looked up at the concerned blonde.   
"I... what happened?" She asked dazedly. It was the second worried exchange between Keith and Lotty that day. Maura was really starting to fear that look.   
"We were sort of hoping you could tell us, Maura." Keith replied quietly.   
"The explosion, the...the blackness." Lotty's eyes widened. Maura frantically tried to remember what had happened. "Do you mean to tell me..." She looked around her. Other students with expressions of varying degrees of concern were gathered around her. "But, the explosion... I don't understand." A matronly gray haired woman whose face Maura associated with the name Madame Wells shoved the assorted students out of her way to reach Maura.   
"Right then, carry on, the lot of you," she waved everyone else away, "now, lass, what the bloody bagpipes are you doing down here on the floor?"  
"She just sort of collapsed while we were walking, and she..." The ever-helpful Lotty, Maura smiled inwardly.   
"Thank you lass. Trot along, nothing to see." Madame Wells attempted to shoo the two Gryffindors away.   
"I should hardly think," Lotty began loudly, "that I should abandon my dear and beloved friend when she has just ever-so-recently suffered a dreadful spell and..."  
"Alright!" Madame Wells exclaimed, "you two can accompany her. Are you Charlotte Blackwell, by any happenstance?" Lotty smiled. "Your brother and sister warned me about you. Separately." She turned her attention to Maura. "Now, dearie, can you stand on your own?" Maura nodded. "Then we shall make our way down to my office. You!" She gestured to Keith "Come on then, lad, give the lady a hand."   
  
In Madame Well's office, Maura was given a cool cloth to lay across her forehead. "I'm afraid there's not much more I can do for you, lass. Rest a little while before your next class. It's impossible to determine the cause. Has anything emotional traumatic happened to you?" Maura shook her head. "Then just relax a bit, and try and stay calm. No worries, of course." She directed her steely gaze towards the angelic faces of Lotty and Keith. "And you two!" She barked gruffly, "Stay out of her way. Don't cause trouble, or I'll boot you out so hard you'll stay off your brooms the rest of the term!" And with that implied threat, Madame Wells stalked away. The second the door clicked shut Lotty and Keith crowded around her bed.   
"Well?" Lotty asked,, her eyes bugging out with excitement "What happened?" Maura frowned.   
"As best I can recall, there was an explosion, and darkness, and it was hard to breath and then I saw you two and then I blacked out again and I saw Jonathan and then you were asking me if I was okay.  
"Jonathan?" Keith asked quietly.   
"He wasn't anywhere near us" Lotty insisted, "he'd already turned the corner by the time we started talking." Maura frowned again.   
"He was there, I swear it. It couldn't have been anyone else." Maura shook her head, trying to get the last of the murkiness out. The heavy darkness that had permeated the air, however briefly, seemed lodged in her brain. "I just... I don't know." Lotty shook her head slowly.   
"Well,:" she finally said, "at least its shaping up to be an interesting year."  
  
  
AN: Lalala! Well, more to come... I've got a pretty good idea about where I want to take this, but its so incredibly hard to try and write this sort of thing...writing so y'all don't know what's coming (even though I do!). Anyway, as I believe I mentioned before, I've got finals (oh yay) so while I have less homework, I know I should be studying (yuck). So right, who knows when the next chapter will come?   
Also, big THANK YOU to my beautiful first two reviews. I LOVE YOU GUYS! It is the encouragement that we struggling authors need to make us continue. To the rest of you, review! You know you want to!   
  
Love and a Peanut Butter Sandwich  
Meitora 


	3. In Which a Prophecy is...well...propheci...

Just Another Thursday

Maura was beginning to appreciate the color red. Especially the rich, velvety red that hung in front of the windows or engulfed studious Gryffindors in the form of the oversized, overstuffed armchairs. She loved the regal autumn red-gold of the lion in the tapestry that hung in the common room. Blissfully, she let herself fall into the burgundy swoon that was a night safely tucked in her canopy bed. The first day of classes quietly stored back in the back of her mind, Maura was more than ready for a sweet slumber. It was not to be so. 

She was in the Great Hall, staring up at a grand chandelier that was swinging madly. A crack appeared in the ceiling, a crack with a gaping maw that seemed posed to swallow the entirety of Hogwarts. Maura watched, removed, until suddenly she was down on the floor, coughing, choking, screaming. She saw fire, burning so hot it was blue. She cried out, but could only her the voices of a thousand others, crying along with her. She was burning. Hogwarts was burning. It was all coming down, it—

"Maura!" She could see the moon suspended in the terrible red-violet sky, no, wait, not a moon. Lotty's face, pale and round, peered down at her. "Wake up!" Maura blinked. She was in her bed. Hogwarts was not crumbling around her. Maura sat up and stared at her tingling arms. They were covered in writing. Maura shrieked. Panicked, she leapt out of bed, holding her arms as far away from her as she could. "Maura! What is it?" Lotty's eyes were wide and frightened. 

"Is Maura a chicken?" mumbled a sleepy Nancy. Maura glanced between her friends wildly. "You can't see this?" She waved her arms. 

"I see Maura flapping her arms." Eve noted calmly. "Otherwise…no." Maura stared. 

"But…the writing…" Lotty's eyes widened even farther. She snatched the first parchment off the dresser her hand touched and licked the tip of her quill to get it flowing. 

"Go on, Maura, read it to me. Hurry up!" Maura blinked. "Mum told me about something like this. It's prophecy. Read!" Maura blinked again, took a deep breath, and then began reading. The silvery ink wound its way around her left arm, snaking in a tight coil, and then began again on her right shoulder, ending finally at the tip of her middle finger. As soon as her lips passed over each word, they glowed blood red, then faded. Lotty's hand cramped, and Eve took over, recording each syllable in her perfect Palmer handwriting. Finally, Maura's limbs were completely free of the foreign invasion, and Eve and Lotty gathered around Maura. Nancy had long since fallen asleep to the droning of Maura's voice, and shy Ingrid slept like the dead. Eve cleared her throat. 

In the time of the changing of the guard the sleeping eagle will arise and claw for its crown. A tragic flower blooms across the body that destroys itself, while the usurper is crowned in thorns. A river of blood, a mountain of bodies, the epidemic spreads. The isolation ends in a crash of thunder, the peace sinking beneath the hungry sea. Where will the children hide? The masque of death is unveiled at midnight in the summer of the thirsty drinker. Sleep, child, the worst is yet to come. A thousand stars shatter and bleed themselves dry... 

Maura shivered despite the relative warmth permeating the room. Some parts were hideously cryptic, while others seemed perfectly clear. _A river of blood, a mountain of bodies_. Lotty huddled in her dressing gown. Eve was trying to look brave, but the hands that held the parchment were shaking. 

"We have to take this to the headmaster." Lotty said determinedly. She smiled weakly, revealing her dimples. 

"Must we?" asked Eve softly. Her hands were white and still shaking. Lotty turned to Eve, shocked. 

"Of course, Eve!" She whimpered. "I'd really rather not, but this sort of thing is important. A real prophecy. It could be imperative to the survival of….of everyone!" Lotty rolled off the bed and extended a hand to Eve. 

"Wait," Eve said slowly. "Wait." She closed her eyes and recollected herself. "Accio letter" she sighed, and a well-read sheet of stationery floated over to her delicate fingers. Without any prelude, she began to read. "Dearest Evie. Whenyou read this darling, you will be far away at the school I left years ago. This is a warning. Headmaster Brooden Shambleshook is an old classmate of mine. An old Slytherin classmate of mine. Darling Evie, I want you to remain fair and open-minded of the Slytherins, but remember that there is always a reason for what the hat does. Stay out of Hogwarts politics. Study hard and practice well and all will go easily for you. Beware of anyone affiliated with any house. There is a storm brewing, Evie, can you taste the electricity?"Her nose twitched, ever so slightly, "Love, Da" 

Lotty and Maura stared at Eve intently. "Do you mean to tell us," Lotty finally said, "that your own Da thinks the Headmaster is dotty? That's hardly reassuring." Eve refolded the letter and sent it floating across the room. Maura caught herself wondering how Eve had learned so much already, before her mind snapped back to the attention of the matter closest at hand. 

"There are several issues to be addressed here," she said softly, her logical brain taking over. "Firstly, Eve, you must write to your father and ask him who _is_ to be trusted, if Headmaster Shambleshook is not. Secondly, Lotty, you must write to _your_ parents and ask them their opinion of our headmaster. Thirdly, we must form a pact here and now. We will never split. There are some things that will always remain between the three of us, and this may end up being one of them." 

"Agreed," Lotty nodded. 

"Three forever" Eve whispered, shivering. She seized a letter opener and sealing wax from the desk. Using her wand, she sharpened the opener to a liquid edge and offered it to Maura. With mechanical precision Maura nicked her thumb, and a tiny ruby swelled. She passed the knife to Lotty, who gasped as her own blood trickled from her thumb. Eve was the last, cutting into herself with a steely, almost unnerving determination. Setting the letter-opener turned knife, she lit the sealing wax with a flicker of her wand. Red tears dripped from the flame, hissing as they hit the parchment. "Red for blood" she whispered. 

"Red for love," Lotty countered. Maura took a deep breath. How amazing it seemed, that their actions and words flowed so beautifully together, as if they'd been rehearsed. Her mouth formed the words without her brain's total consent. 

"Red for Gryffindor." She watched as the little scarlet pearl slid down her thumb and splashed, mingling with the blood of her friends. She took a deep shuddering breath as Eve pressed the seal down into the hot wax. 

"What seal did you use?" Lotty asked in a whisper. Eve blinked in surprise, as if waking from a dream.

"I don't know" she replied as she lifted the golden seal. A red lion roared back from the wax at the three girls. Maura jumped back.

"Those things _move_?" 

Keith, being a head taller than her other friends, was the first to teal Maura what the message board said. "Flying lessons!" He exclaimed to her, his eyes radiating excitement. "Pardon, but I've got to go polish my broom!" And Keith flew out of the room, rather as if he'd been already upon it. 

"We have to sit through potions, first," Maura pointed out to Eve and Lotty when she broke the news. Lotty made a face. 

"Ick, potions. My sister said they're completely dull. My brother likes them, but he's…well…he's Roger. He's a bit odd." She shrugged off this fact and gently pulled Eve and Maura aside. "I've got my letter to Mum and Da written. We can swing by the owlery after breakfast." A prettily addressed envelope slipped out of Eve's sleeve. 

"Same here." Maura smiled, but the back of her mind was turning over the previous night's events. She was, they were, in a pact. And the Gryffindor lion had given his approval. After Lotty and Eve had fallen into fitful sleep, Maura had checked the seal. It was one of her own, as she'd suspected, and the image engraved on the bottom had been C.M.M., her initials. There was no lion. Certainly not a roaring, moving one. For some reason this comforted Maura. Godric Gryffindor, a good and brave man, according to her textbooks, had smiled down on their endeavor. They were, in a way, his protectors. Maura felt safe, knowing this illustrious figure was their guardian. 

Breakfast may as well have not existed. Consumed with thoughts about the prophecy, Maura could hardly keep her mind on the porridge in her bowl, let alone the questions the curious Keith was posing to her. Finally she realized he must know something was up, judging by the somber behavior the girls exhibited. "I give up!" He exclaimed. "You're a statue Maura, a bloody rock!" Maura blinked and recomposed herself. 

"Keith," she pleaded, following him as he went to dump his tray, "I'm sorry, I didn't get any sleep last night. I don't mean to be a prig." He stopped walking. 

"that's okay, I—what were you doing up all night?" His curious nature overcame his hurt feelings as he pivoted to face her. Maura smiled and lied glibly. 

"Eve was…talking. About…you know…" She lowered her voice three timbres. "_Greg."_She winked at Keith mischievously. His eyes were as wide and round as dinner plates. 

"No kidding," he whispered back. "Because Greg was talking about Eve last night too." Maura blinked. Really? And she thought she'd made that up. This put a whole new spin on things. Maura giggled and wondered how best to tell Eve. Keith winked back conspirator-like, and returned to the table. Maura bounced over to Eve and Lotty, smiling like the cat who caught the mouse. Both she and Keith stopped short when they realized they were too late. Eve and Greg, across the table from each other, were engaged in conversation. Lotty raised her eyebrows, and, linking arms with Maura, dragged her away. 

"What's going on?" She asked, befuddled. Maura repeated Keith's news. Lotty's eyebrows raised. "_Really_" she murmured. She stole another glance at Greg's dark brown hair and Eve's glowing complexion. Her eyebrows threatened to rise off the top of her forehead. "I think," she said with a bubbly smile, "that we have matchmaking to do for dear Evie." 

Maura had never been to the owlery before. A soft, constant cooing and rustling of wings set the calm, quiet atmosphere the place held. Lotty's owl, a tiny and loud tawny thing, fluttered down almost immediately. It seized the letter in its small talons and huffed away with it, indignant that Lotty even had to say it was a letter home. Eve's owl was a stately grand affair, rather like her mistress. It swooped down on silent deadly wings, making Maura gasp with excitement. She watched both birds soar away enviously, knowing exactly what she wanted for her next birthday. 

The Potions dungeon was dank and dripping. The walls appeared to be growing pond scum, or at least smelled like it. The rankness of it all swam through Maura's head, making her nauseous. To her great surprise, however, the professor was almost like a grown-up Lotty. Bubbly, curvy, and short, she introduced herself as Professor Fruehling, the head of Hufflepuff house, and added "I particularly abhor the décor, but Salazar Slytherin, the original potions master, put such a hex on the place I don't think any amount of scrubbing can cleanse it." She shook her head sadly and then proceeded to give instructions on the makings of a giggle potion. "I like to start out light and easy." She laughed, passing out protective gloves. Maura found herself paired with the light-hearted Keith, who barely even consulted his book while adding the varying ingredients to his cauldron. In between chopping chrysanthemum petals and stirring the brew, Maura was content to snort delicately at Keith's jokes and watch other pairs foul up. 

Lottywas paired with Baxter, and the image of a fly bugging a cow came to mind. Persistently chatty, Lotty interrupted her gossip sessions with the somber Baxter only to shriek that he was going to sink her grade by doing _that_. Every so often Baxter would grunt something like "Hand me the Elderberry juice" and then continue ignoring Lotty, concentrating on his potion. Lotty fluttered around, offering suggestions and digression. 

The quietest table belonged to Ingrid and Jonathan. Neither spoke more than a few hushed words, working together in a silent agreement. Ingrid appeared to have taken the initiative to do most of the work, with Jonathan content to slice, stir, and measure. Maura smiled as he peered into the cauldron, his dark hair falling messily into his face. 

Eve and Greg were busily laughing and talking. Their potion wouldn't be done for a long time, as it was still only emitting purple fumes, and everyone else's had already turned a brilliant shade of orange. Maura grinned at the thought of the two of them. They were a lovely couple, or would be, or should be. 

"—so after we're done taking over the world, I'm going to marry the Queen and we'll have twelve thousand children, all named Egbert." Keith was saying, gesticulating with the spoon he'd been using to stir the cauldron. Maura's eyes widened.

"_What??_" Keith laughed so hard his eyes wrinkled and a tear still escaped.

"Headmaster's Whiskers, Maura, you should have seen your face! I knew you weren't paying attention." Maura had the decency to blush.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" 

"I was asking you if you were ready to try the potion." He ladled some onto the spoon and offered it to her. It was bright pink (A/N: think Pepto Bismal, except it hasn't been invented yet). 

"Is it safe?" she asked timidly. Keith smiled. 

"Absolutely. The book said it ought to be that color. Go on, take a sip, and I will too." Maura leaned across the cauldron and placed her lips on one end of the enormous spoon as Keith did the same on his end. "Ready?" he asked, "On three then. One, two, three-_slurp_." Maura sipped a little of the thick pink swill. It actually tasted rather like cherry flavored chalk. She looked across the spoon at Keith and realized what a funny picture they must make, both drinking from the same utensil. She started giggling. And kept giggling. She tried to sit down, missed the chair and hit the floor, giggling even harder. Keith, too, was attacked by the infectious laughter. They were both on the floor, giggling loud enough to wake the dead when Professor Fruehling came over. She smiled at the sight of them. 

"I'd say that deserves a good mark in the book and five points for Gryffindor" she handed them a vial filled with a murky black liquid, "now drink the sobering potion so your classmates can get back to work." Keith sipped a little and immediately calmed down. Maura, still giggling ferociously, accidentally swigged the rest of the vial. She wanted to spit it out, it tasted so nasty. Suddenly all she could think about was overwhelmingly sad. She burst into tears, sobbing into her hands. Keith crawled under the table and sat next to her, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. Finally, he slipped her a tiny drop of their giggle potion, restoring her to her usual state of amusement. 

"Oh!" she exclaimed, looking at her teary reflection in the metallic surface of the spoon. With Professor Fruehling's permission, she left the dungeon to wash her face in the Gryffindor girl's bathroom. Flying lessons were next. She stared at her reflection again, this time in an actual mirror. 

"Don't worry dearie, it doesn't matter what you look like to go on a broomstick" her reflection informed her. Maura blinked, but was by now used to odd things. She sat on her trunk and thought about what riding a cleaning tool would be like. Rather uncomfortable, she imagined. Thinking about it, she realized how horrible her corset would be, digging into her ribs. After pondering a little more, she decided to leave it off. No one would know the difference but her poor little waist, which ached all the time under the squeeze of the metal contraption. Quietly tucking it into her trunk, Maura could have skipped out of the common room to join the rest of the Gryffindors heading towards the fields.

The flying instructor was a heavyset, dark-browed man called Herr Hahnchen. Keith leaned in to Maura and whispered that Hahnchen was German for "little chicken" sending Maura into paroxysms of glee. Herr Hahnchen glared at her. 

"Miss Matthews, since you seem to be the most extroverted of the group, why don't you demonstrate for us how to mount your broom?" Maura stopped laughing and froze. 

"Say 'Up' in a confident voice," Keith whispered, "then leap on and lean back." Maura glanced back at him nervously, but he only grinned. She stepped over to the broom and quavered "Up?" with a definite question mark. The broom lay on the ground. A few of the Slytherins, with whom they shared this lesson, snickered, and Herr Hahnchen sneered. Maura tried again, angry at being laughed at. "UP!" she commanded, the broom launching itself into the air and slamming into her hand. _Ow..._ she thought, but this was no time for grimacing. She squeezed the handle tightly and kicked up onto the broom, side-saddling the handle. Following the last of Keith's instructions she leaned back and rocketed upwards, her hair streaming out of her plaits. After her initial panic was over, Maura began to laugh. This was amazing! She decided to experiment and leaned left. The broom swerved into a corkscrew. She leaned down into a steep dive, shrieking with laughter, pulling out of it barely in time to save her neck. Finally, she removed her hands from the broom and grinned as she flew in figure eights guiding only with her legs. She stalled next to Herr Hahnchen in a huff, her cheeks flushed and her hair wild. 

"Alright, you've seen the demonstration by the show off. Get to it!" he barked. The other students began barking or squeaking "up" and getting varying results. Maura hovered for a minute, waiting to get her breath back. A pressure on her waist made her start. Herr Hahnchen had wrapped his thick sausage-like fingers around her. "You aren't wearing your corset, are you?" he leered, pinching her flesh. Maura was too petrified to do anything. She stared in horror at his great hulk of a face as prodded her figure through her cloak. A golden-haired Lotty wobbling on her broom caught Maura's attention for just a second, breaking the hypnotic spell. 

"Get away from me!" She screamed, tearing away on her broom. He had a mad, hungry look in his eyes that was so cold, so frightening. She was shaking with rage when Keith pulled up next to her. 

"Hey Maura, isn't this a riot?" When he got no answer, he looked from her to the instructor, trying to unravel the mystery. "Maura? Are you okay?" She gave her friend a wild, crazed glance and sped away towards Gryffindor tower, leaning hard into her broom and blinking away tears. 

A/N: Well, sorry that took so long. Like I said…finals…icky… Vielen Dank to my new best friend, Ariella, who reviewed _both_ chapters!!! Yay!!! Keep reviewing!!! (that goes for the rest of you, too) I decided to up the rating because sexual harassment and prophecies about blood aren't exactly kiddy fodder.

I'd just like to add that I wrote this all in the span of two hours, in the middle of a gorgeous New England storm, the kind where you can smell the electricity crackling in the muggy air and taste the salty tension on your tongue. Wonderful conditions for writing mad fan fiction. 

Love and Peanut Butter Sandwich!

Meitora


	4. In Which Maura makes a Mighty Good Speec...

Just Another Thursday

There was nothing she could do. She was trapped like a butterfly caged, fluttering her wings hopelessly against the invisible prison. He hadn't done anything illegal, he hadn't even really violated her person, as his hands had remained above her robes. But there was still that feeling of disgust that permeated her bones. There was nothing she could do. Maura adjusted her robes and refused to even look at the trunk that held her corset. She would not give in. 

Maura leapt back onto the school's broom that had been hovering patiently outside the window. She tossed back her hair and straightened her shoulders, then raced back to the Quidditch fields. 

Keith raised an eyebrow at Maura's return. "Where'd you go?" He asked in concern. 

"I…I was seeing how fast I could go." She lied. He looked at her hard and long, his summery eyes trying to slice through the composed mask on her face. He failed. 

"If you're sure…" Maura smiled, closing her eyes. 

"I'm fine." She looked at Lotty, who was clinging to the handle for dear life. Eve's face was contorted with laugher as she darted around poor Lotty, helping her maintain her balance. Maura laughed. 

"Maybe we should lend the amazing bird-girl a hand" she waved Keith along with her. "We can race, if you like…"

_Quidditch Trials Friday, Quidditch Trials Friday_. The news burned in her brain like a headline. _Quidditch Trials Friday_. Keith was thrilled, of course, but he'd looked a little puzzled when Maura asked him what they involved. 

"Well, uh, according to Herr Hahnchen, the team captain decides who gets on the team, and has you run some drills, play a scrimmage maybe? Why do you want to know?" 

Maura laughed a little. "Have you gone blind? Didn't you _see_ me up on my broom? I _love_ these things! I might as well try out for the team. We're just first years, so what have we got to lose?" 

Keith looked startled, like someone had spilled water over his head. "Maura," he began slowly, "I don't mean to sound chauvanistic or anything, but, well girls _can't_ play Quidditch." Maura frowned. 

"What do you mean, Keith? We girls were scooting up around on our brooms pretty well." He looked uncomfortable under Maura's withering gaze, scuffing his toes around. 

"Well, it's just…Quidditch is a contact sport. You could, you know, get hurt. And, you know… the way girls sit. With their robes…"

"You mean on the side? It's how we ride horses. Why should a broom be any different? I managed quite well, I think, without my hands." Maura glared. Keith threw up his hands in defense.

"I'm not attacking you Maura! Don't be angry, please. I'm just saying that no female has ever played Quidditch at Hogwarts or any other school." Maura thought this over. Keith had a point. And there was no reason to be angry with him. She bit her lip.

"Well, there's a first for everything, isn't there?" she asked softly. He grinned. She thought for a second, then added "We've got a handful of days until Friday. You can teach me the rules, and the technique, and…all that good stuff. Please?" Keith looked at her hard. 

"All right" he agreed, "we'll make you the best Quidditch player your side of the gender barrier." 

"One more, come on Keith, one more" Maura begged. Keith sighed tiredly and tossed her the Quaffle. In silent camaraderie they threw the large red ball to each other, trying for accuracy and speed. Keith was understandably much better at first, but Maura was a quick learner, catching on to a few of the tricks. In fact, her sideways seating, once she got her balance, was easier to maneuver from, with sharper, more controlled turns possible. Maura had already almost fallen once; however much easier to turn it was, it was far harder to catch and throw. 

Maura was continually amazed at the mental bond she'd formed with Keith. Each seemed to know precisely where the other was, at all times. Their passes rarely flew off the mark. Finally, bone-tired with aching arms and hips, Maura nodded that she was ready to go in. 

"You were amazing today, Maura," Keith wearily shook her hand, bowing in mock subservience. Maura laughed, and the two friends headed back towards the castle they deserted. 

Coming in with Keith from their practice that evening, Maura met Jonathan in the hall. He was lugging along his Transfiguration book in the direction of the library. "Jonathan," Maura teased him, "you're the smartest person in the class. Professor Bramble loves you. Why are you studying?" He looked up from hollow, darling eyes. 

"You can never know enough, Maura dear" he whispered, moving off. Maura followed him with her eyes, smiling. 

"I don't like him," Keith announced, "He gives the rest of the boys the creeps." Maura rounded on him. Keith stared back at her squarely. "He always mopes around, reading that dumb Transfiguration book and telling the rest of us we ought to pay more attention in class. I thought he was a nice kid coming over on the boat, but…yeesh." Maura took a deep breath. 

"Maybe he just cares a lot about his studies. Remember he said his sister was talented at Transfiguration?" Keith just shrugged. 

"If it suits you." 

Maura was ready to scream. No matter how hard the young, nervous Professor Binns tried, he was still hideously boring. It probably wasn't his fault. The History of Magic was a monotonous subject. It was all she could do to stay awake. One Hufflepuff though, a small boy named Mark Timmid, seemed infatuated with the class. "Its so fascinating, though" he whined to Maura when she voiced her complaints in the corridor. "All those dates and numbers…" He laughed like a rock breaking. Maura smiled politely and escaped into conversation with Lotty. 

"So you're going out for the team?" she asked with that foxy grin of hers. Maura nodded. "Just so you know—"

"I know, I know," Maura interrupted, "Girls don't do Quidditch." Lotty blinked. 

"Actually, I was going to tell you that there usually aren't any first years picked for the team. You have to be really, _really_, good. But you're right. Girls _don't_ do Quidditch. But you can try, right? You were spectacular on the broom yesterday, it'd be a shame if they didn't let you on the team because of some technicality about your sex." Maura smiled at Lotty.

"Who's the team captain for Gryffindor, anyway?" She asked as an afterthought. Eve shrugged. 

"We met him that first day. Head boy…what's his name? Bobby. That's it." Maura grinned widely.

"Bobby McCaffry is the team captain? That is great news, Lotty, absolutely fabulous!" Maura skipped down the hall to spread the word to Keith. 

Maura wiped the rain out of her eyes and shook her hair, spraying water all over the common room. Thunder burst into the room seconds after it was illuminated by the blue lightening. The storm had caused Keith and Maura to bring it in early, as being roasted by electricity was a bad idea for two wannabe Quidditch players. She flopped onto her bed, drenching her sheets quickly. "Oops," she muttered, rolling off the bed. "I guess I'm in for a wet night." Eve laughed and shook her wand at Maura's bed. 

"_Evapora_" she murmured, and the sheets quickly dried themselves out. Maura gave Eve a funny look. 

"How do you _know_ so much?" She asked. Eve blinked and looked at the tip of her wand. 

"I don't really know. It all just sort of comes to me and makes sense. Evapora…from evaporate, right? It just…I don't know. I haven't really thought about it much." Eve examined her wand again, a concerned look gradually spreading across her face. She shrugged. 

"You ought to duel, Eve. You're so gifted." Maura said as Eve laughed, "no, really," she insisted, "Professor Jade is in charge of the dueling club, and you saw the posters." It was impossible to miss the flashing posters that advertised the club. According to general consensus, the matches were rather exciting, seeing as you never knew who'd get hexed into a toad. Lotty raised an eyebrow from her bed where she was pouring over the latest issue of _Witch Weekly_. 

"Maura, dueling is like Quidditch. Smoking club only." 

"What?" Maura was confused. Lotty sighed and smiled regretfully.

"Females aren't seen as duelers. Dueling is…warlike. That isn't our position." Maura frowned. 

"Aren't we allowed to have _any_ fun? First Quidditch and now dueling? What are we supposed to do? Sit and brew love potions and charm our hair?" Lotty shrugged and raised the cover of _Witch Weekly_. "21 Foolproof Love Potions!" It said beneath a picture of a glamorous-looking witch.Maura leapt onto a chair.

"This is entirely ridiculous. Ladies, now is the time to revolt. I say we play Quidditch and duel and leave love potions to the rest of them!" Lotty sat up, lilting her head as if to say, I understand, but what can we do? "I refuse to sit by and watch my life become duller and duller by the day," Maura proclaimed, waving her wand for emphasis. Eve remained silent, but her eyes spoke volumes of agreement. "We're the Gryffindor girls, and we're going to change the way this school thinks!" Maura, caught up in her speech, lost her balance and fell to the floor with a thud. Eve offered her a hand up and smiled. 

"I think, Maura, that you will make a good politician."

A/N: Oh geeze. I just read through this and realized how short it was…sorry! I promise I'll write more, but I'm leaving for vacation Saturday. I'll try to post little bits at a time, but I don't know how much I'll be able to do. Here's wishing everyone lovely holidays (I hope you're all on break, now!) and I'll get back to Maura and company for a nice long chapter when I get back (in about two weeks). 

I also just realized I've never posted a disclaimer. Oops. Well, if you've never seen it before, it's mine. I think the only person I didn't invent is Professor Binns, actually… I'm not trying to make money, etc… you know the spiel. 

Love and a Peanut Butter Sandwich!

Aroo!

Meitora


	5. In Which Professor Corvus Whacks Out

_Dear Mum and Da,_

_Hogwarts is splendid. I've learnt to drive a broomstick like the witch on the Halloween greeting cards and we all make quite a picture squawking about the sky. The girls in my dormitory are quite chummy with me, especially Lotty and Eve. Can I have an owl for my birthday? Love to you both, _

_Maura_

Maura waited in line for a school owl with Maglie Cuzco, a second year Ravenclaw. Upon discovering their shared affinity for numbers, the older girl warmed up to Maura, and walked with her back to the main hall after their respective letters had been shipped off. 

"Next year," Maglie confided, "you have the option of taking Arithmancy, which is quite like our arithmetic back in the Muggle world." 

Maura smiled at this, looking forwards to embracing the familiarity of numbers, then asked, "Is it difficult, because we're Muggles and all? I've heard some rather sorry remarks on this, and I was wondering—"

"Nonsense," Maglie interrupted, "we can succeed just as well as these hoity-toity wizard folk. They haven't got the edge on us as much as they think they do. Most of them are quite nice about it, anyway. You just have to watch out for the bad-blooded ones. Besides, keep a good head about you and they won't even realize you're a Mudblood." 

"Isn't that an insult?" Maura asked, confused. When that word was hurled at Lotty, Keith had leapt to her defense, yet here was Maglie, a fellow Muggle-born, lightly tossing about the same slur. 

"Only if you believe in it. Don't worry about it."

After falling through the second stair on the west corridor staircase and finding herself on the first and one half floor, Maura barely got to her first class of the day on time. Luckily she'd found Liandra, on a free period, who'd given her directions back to the second floor. Elsewise, Maura reasoned, she would have been stuck between the first and second floors forever. 

"Miss Matthews?" Professor Corvus inquired dryly.

"Sir?"

"Take a seat in the back with Mr. Stanford. I entrust you will not be so nearly late again." The aging professor turned his beady eyes towards his notes on the podium, effectively preventing Maura from launching into her story. She slid into the uncomfortable, gothic chair next to Jonathan and waited a half second before asking quietly of him what class this was. 

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," he whispered back, "it's a new mandatory course. My sister never took it. It'll likely turn out to be quite useless."

"On the contrary, Mr. Stanford." Maura was not sure if the crook-nosed professor had spoken. His eyes were still skimming the notes, but the raspy voice was unmistakably his. After a pregnant silence, he looked up and gazed straight at Jonathan. "I think, judging by recent events, you will find these lessons more beneficial then any other you will learn." He held his ebony stare a few moments longer, then snapped back to the rest of the class. " 'Drang nach Ostern' what does that mean? Ms. Hathaway." 

"It's German, sir. Something towards east." Eve offered hesitantly. 

"Correct," Corvus snapped, "Five points to Gryffindor. It means 'Drive towards the East'. What importance does this have?" The classroom was silent for a long minute. 

"Fools!" Professor Corvus half-cackled, half-screamed, leaping onto his nearby desk. The first-year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs leaned back in their chairs, anxious to get away from the mad eyes of Corvus. He was perched on all fours on the table, tilting his head and spitting as he spoke. "Fools! What happened in Morocco in 1905?" He swayed around, rocking the desk dreadfully, looking for someone to answer his question. "How about you, Mr. Timmid?" 

The frightened Hufflepuff whimpered when their obviously insane instructor turned his wild, red-flecked eyes on him. "Sir, nothing in the wizard world, but the Muggles…there was a revolution, I think—"

"You THINK?" roared Corvus, soaring off his desk and alighting in front of quavering Mark Timmid. "Your life is at stake and you only THINK you know what is going on?"

"Sir, I—" Greg stood up from behind Mark. 

"Yes?" Professor Corvus remarked calmly, as if he had not been previously howling mad. 

"Well, sir, I hardly see how Muggle affairs are considered relevant in a class that is supposed to teach us about dark magic." Greg's free hand shook, but his voice remained even. Professor Corvus twitched his head from side to side for a moment, then flew back to his podium in a rush of black robes. 

"Morocco, 1905. Germany assists Moroccans in their attempt to overthrow their French government. The Balkans, 1908, Austria-Hungry annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbians threaten Austria Hungry with war. 1911, Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire. Children! These events were not so long ago! You all were about ten years old when the Balkan Wars began. Do you not see what is coming?" Professor Corvus scanned the room intensely, as though trying to communicate his message via brain waves. Maura raised her hand tentatively. 

"Sir, my da, he says the world is one shot away from war… but sir, I don't understand. Serbia, Morocco, Austria-Hungry, these places are quite far away. What have they to do with Hogwarts?" Maura could picture her father, slowly chewing his breakfast, reading the paper and shaking his head, scratching his mustache and sighing. Then he would put down the paper and say "England will not go to war, but war will come to her" before sipping the dregs of his tea and leaving for work. Maura cleared her head of the fragments of memories in time to hear the professor's answer.

"For centuries, wizards have separated themselves from the Muggles, creating their own communities, villages, schools and hospitals. But the isolation is coming to an end. The events in the Muggle world have an echo effect on the magical world. Wizards are starting to take an interest in power in the Muggle world. And where power is an issue, evil ensues like a shadow."

"So what you're saying," Nancy offered, "is that the power struggle in the Muggle world has its roots in dark wizards?" 

"Among other things, yes. And dark wizardry is what we are here to prevent. If you will open your books to page 12, you will find a chart—" Professor Corvus was quickly drowned out by the sound of page turning. 

" 'But the isolation is coming to an end.' That sounds mightily familiar," Maura remarked dryly to Eve in the hall. The taller girl stopped. 

"You're thinking of _The isolation ends in a crash of thunder_ from the prophecy? I was wondering the same thing myself. I wish there was… a teacher… or someone here we knew we could trust. This whole politicking has me bushraggled." Eve adjusted her robes slightly and continued in a different voice. "There's a dueling club meeting tonight, before supper."

Maura smiled her encouragement, "You ought to try, Eve. You're spelling everything in sight while I'm still trying to figure out which end of a wand is which…" 

Eve looked down and blushed faintly. "I…do you think maybe you could come too…I don't want to go by myself…I'll feel quite ridiculous." 

Maura grinned. "Feeling ridiculous is my specialty."

This, of course, is usually the space for the author's note, but the author is so ashamed at having not updated in SIX MONTHS that she has crawled under her blanket. The author would like to make the singular comment that she suffered a terrible case of writer's block, combined with numerous vacations and personal issues that have caused the delay of this (rather short) chapter. So here's hoping that you all forgive me *sniffle* and that you all review and encourage me to keep blundering my way through pre-Harry, pre-MWPP fic. And it's hard! 

Aroo!

Meitora


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